Coil-bending device



Jul 15;. 1 24. 1.501.064

G.-B. ROESCH,

con. BENbINe DEVICE Filed June 18. 1921 Y INVENTbR II GZ' RQE 6.1?0550/1Patented July 15, 1924.

I 1,501,064 ,ATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BANCROFT aonscn, or BLOO-MFIELD, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOB To WESTING-HOUSE LAMP COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF rENNsYLvAnIA.

COIL-IBENDING DEVICE Application filed June 18, 1921 Serial No. 478,543.

This invention relates to an apparatus for shaping or bendingfilamentary" material, and more particularly it has to do with means;for bending incandescent lamp filaments into. desired shapes formounting;

Anobje'ct of'this invention is to provide a novel: apparatus for formingbends in filamentary material suclr as coiled filaments without injuringthe filaments; for simultaneously forming the bends in a plurality ofwires fed to" the apparatus; for forming such bends at uniform distancesthroughout thelengths of the several wires; and for ya rying thedistances between bends in any two wires. I 7

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription.

In some types of incandescent lamps, it is desirable to employ coiledfilaments bent into certain shapes-such, for instance, as the saw toothor star? shape; both shapes being well known to persons skilled in thisart. In making the bends'in the coiled fila T ment employed in such alamp, particular attention is required to prevent the circular filamentfrom becoming squeezed and set in an oval shape. Certain machines havebeen designed and successfully Operated to accom lish this bendingoperation.

owever, thesemachines are not susceptible to adjustment so as to changethe spacing between the bends in the filament and for this reasonlackflexibility.

The present invention contemplates a machine capable=of forming bends atuniform distances in a filament, either of the coiled or uncoiled typeand also being adapted to change-the spacing between bends withoutspecial adj ustlnent of the machine.- 4 In understanding the invention,-reference is to b made to the accompanying: drawings in which; D

Fig. 1 isa side View of my coil bending machine, i

Fig. 2 an end'view'o'fthe machine with a 'r 1? were? the st eflwisbrekee awayr- Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a coiled filament mountedupon the supports of an electric incandescent lamp;

Fig. 4; is a view of a section of'a coiled filament before bending; and

Fig. 5 shows a portion of bent-filament;

Themachine illustrated in. the drawingsis provided with two co-operatingrollers; 1 and 2 mounted on shafts 3 and 4 which in turn are mounted. insuitable standards 5:. The rollers are driven insynchronism. bya'suitable power transmitting means such as beveled gears 6 and 7 operatedby a shaft 8 driven by any suitable source of power (not shown). Thefilament wire is formed Or bent as it passes between the rollers bybeing moved into contact with dies 9" carried by the rollers. These dies'areuniformly spaced as shown and are positioned .to extend beyondresilient surfaces 10 which are usually formed of rubber. theco-operating rollers in forming; the bends is readily appreciated byreference to Fig. 2 wherein there is illustrated a filament 11 passingbetween the rollers. It is to. be noted that One of the dies in roller1' is engaging the resilient surface of roller 2 and is pressing thefilament against the-rubber surface to form a bend therein. The bendbeing formed corresponds to bends 12' already formed in the part of' thefilament which has passed from between the rollers. Preferably, therollers are assembled to co operate in a manner to have'the dies in oneroller engage the resilient surfaces of the other roller at pointsmidway between the dies thereof. By reason of such-co-operation oftherollers'bends are formed in the filament at uniform distances.

The rollersin the machine are tapered and are arranged to have aline'engagement'. The dies carried by therollers are positionedlengthwise of the rollers and in converging relationship to each other;With this type of co-operating rollers, filament wires may be fedbetween the rollers at any desired point along their engaging surfaces.Since the dies are converging fromth'e right handend of the rollersillustrated in Fig. 1 to the left hand end,'it' will be appreciated thatthe filament wiresfed at the-right hand end will have bends formedtherein at greater distances apart than filament wires fed betweentherollers-at the lefthand end. Su ks designat theeasements The actionof provides for simultaneously feeding a plurality of filament wiresbetween the rollers filament wires between the rollers are provided inthe form of guides 13 which are T slidably mounted on a suitable support1.4

carried by standards 5. For purpose of illustration, two of the guidesare shown in Fig. 1 although it is to be understood that any number maybe provided if desired.

The support 14: carries a suitable calibrated scale 15 which iscalibrated to indicate the distance betweenbends formed in a filamentwire which may be fed between the rollers at a particular calibrationpoint. The guidesafter being adjusted to a'desired position, may befirmly afiixed on the support 14: by tightening suitable set screws 16.

An illustration of a coiled filament wire shaped in a saw tooth form asan example of one of the shapes, is shown in Fig. 3 where an arbor 19carries supporting wires 20 which inturn support the coiled filamentwire at the bends Although the present apparatus has been illustrated inconnection with forming bends in coiled filaments, it is obvious thatthe filamentary material may consist of a straight length of wire or bein ribbon form.

The apparatus illustrated for accomplishingthe objects of the invention,is subject to modifications and changes, and such modifications andchanges are considered as being within the scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

' What'is claimed is:

i 1. In an apparatus for shaping filamentary material, co-operatingrollers adapted to form bends in a filament fed therebetween and meansfor feeding said filament between said rollers at different points oftheir engagement to vary the distance between the bends.

2. An apparatus for shaping filamentary material having (to-operatingrollers and means for feeding a plurality of spaced fil amentssimultaneously therebetween, to cause the distance between said bends inany two of the filaments to be unequal. 3(In anapparatus for shapingmetallic filaments, co-operati'ng tapered rollers having protruding diespositioned lengthwise for forming bends in filament lengths fed betweensaid rollers and means for feeding filament thereto at selected pointsthereon.

4. In an apparatus for shaping filamentary material, col-operatingtapered rollers provided with resilient external surfaces and diescarried by said rollers and protruding through the resilient surfacesfor -forming bends in filament lengths fed between said rollers, andmeans for feeding filament thereto at any desired points therealong.

5. In an apparatus for shaping filamentary material, the combination oftwo tapered co-operating rollers having resilient surfaces and aplurality of slidable members for guiding filament lengths into contactwith said rollers at different points along the engaging portions ofsaid rollers.

6. In an apparatus for shaping filamentary material, tapered rollersco-operating to form bends in filament lengths passed therebetween, thedistances between the bends in the several filament lengths beingdependent upon the points at which they are fed between said rollers'andmeans for feeding filament thereto at desired points. i

7. In an apparatus for shaping wires, the combination of taperedrollershaving line engagement, said rollers having protuding dies for makingbends in wire fed therebetween and a scale juxtapositioned to saidrollers for indicating distances betwcen bends made in wires inserted ata given calibration.

8. In an apparatus for shaping wires, tapered co-operating rollers, diescarried by said rollers in converging relation for forming bends inwires'fed therebetween transversely of their length and means forfeeding wires thereto at desired positions.

9. In an apparatus for bending a filament, the combination of twotapered cooperating rollers, each of said rollers having a rubbercovering intercepted at predeter mined intervals by protruding diespositioned lengthwise of the rollers, means for driving said rollers insynchronism, a fila- 2 ment guide slidab-ly mounted on a support and acalibrated scale to indicate distances between bends formed in the.filament fed between said rollers.

10. A machine for bending filamentary material comprising convergingshafts geared together, cooperating conical rollers on said shafts andprovided with resilient surfaces, dies positioned on said surfaces alongelements thereof and uniformly spaced, with the dies on' one rolleradapted to engage the surface of the other midway between the diesthereon, whereby the material may be bent alternately in oppositedirections.

11. A machine for bending'wire comprising converging shafts arrangedtooperate in synchronism, cooperating conical rollers thereon providedwith resilient surfaces carrying straight dies arranged at uniformangular distances, the dies on one roller adapted to engage the surfaceof the other approximately midway between the dies thereon, whereby wiremay be bent alternately in opposite directiens and the I distancebetween bends regulated by passing the wire between the rollers atdifferent pointsalong the length thereof.

12. A wire forming machine comprising cooperating conical rollersrotatively mounted and provided with straight dies on the coniqalsurfaces thereof adapted to form bends in wire or the like in oppositedirections and uniformly spaced, the distance between bends depending onthe location of the wire along the length of the rollers, while the sameis being bent, means for guiding the wire to the rollers at a definitelocation and calibrated means cooperating therewith for indicating thedistance between bends on the wire to be formed.

13. A machine for shaping a plurality of wires simultaneously comprisingrotatively-mounted, cooperating conical rollers, provided with straightdies spaced uniformly around the perimeter thereof and each adapted toengage the surface of the oppo site roller at points approximatelymidway between the dies on the other roller, said dies converging towarda point, whereby wires fed between said rollers at different pointsalong the length thereof, are simultaneously bent, when the rollers areoperated the distance between the bends in a wire belng uniform, butdifferent from those in other wires.

14. A machine for simultaneously shaping a plurality of filamentscomprising conical rollers mounted for cooperative relative rotarymotion with substantially line engagement, straight dies mounted on eachroller and uniformly spaced therearound, the dies of one roller adaptedto engage the surface of the other roller approximately midway bstweendies on said surface, a plurality of filament guides mounted along thelength of the rollers whereby a plurality of filaments may besimultaneously fed to and bent when the rollers are operated, thedistance between the bends in one wire differing from that in another.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17 day ofJune, 1921.

GEORGE BANCROFT ROESCH.

